Advocates Mobilize Nationwide as Administration Walks Back SAMHSA Grant Cuts

Late Wednesday night, administration officials confirmed that the Trump administration would restore the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant funding it had terminated less than 24 hours earlier.1 When nonprofit organizations across the US began receiving termination letters late Tuesday night notifying them that their SAMHSA grants were canceled, it quickly spurred pushback from mental health advocates.

The grant terminations came as part of a broader wave of federal actions reshaping behavioral health funding. | Image credit: netrun78 - stock.adobe.com

“Our advocates really showed up in less than 24 hours; 16,000 people contacted members of Congress,” Jennifer Snow, MPA, National Director of Government Relations, Policy & Advocacy, at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), said in an interview Thursday morning. “Every member of Congress, all 50 states, heard from NAMI advocates, and we know that had an impact.”

The cuts had affected thousands of grants totaling more than $1.9 billion and prompted urgent warnings from providers and advocacy organizations that the sudden terminations would destabilize community-based mental health and addiction services nationwide.2 The rapid reversal followed coordinated pressure from national and state-level stakeholders across the behavioral health system.

“If $2 billion in grants were immediately terminated, we know that it would put an unknown number of lives at stake because it would immediately disrupt mental health and addiction programming in communities across the country,” Snow told The American Journal of Managed Care® in the interview.

The grant terminations came as part of a broader wave of federal actions reshaping behavioral health funding. Last year, a Republican-controlled Congress enacted deep cuts to Medicaid that have already strained many mental health and addiction treatment providers, particularly those serving low-income and underserved populations.

“We are very grateful that mental health remains a priority for people on both sides of the aisle, and so the fact that members of Congress, all different types of members of Congress, were hearing from people in their communities, telling them how these decisions would have a real and harmful consequence on people in their communities,” Snow said. “I have to think that was a huge part of the reason why the changes are being rescinded.”

Providers have warned that the sudden cancellation of federal grants, layered on top of reduced Medicaid support, could have a compounding effect—threatening the stability of programs already operating on thin margins and potentially unraveling the nation’s behavioral health safety net.

“Whether you're talking suicide prevention efforts, family and peer recovery efforts, overdose prevention and treatment, [or] mental health awareness and education, so many of these grants fund so many essential services in communities,” Snow explained. “It's not just numbers on paper. We know that they would have a real-life impact on people's abilities to get services and to stay healthy and well within their community.”

Editor’s Note: Ms Snow, who was interviewed for this article, is a relative of Ms Bonavitacola.

References

1. NAMI applauds swift reversal of devastating mental health cuts. News release. NAMI. January 15, 2026. Accessed January 15, 2026. https://www.nami.org/press-releases/nami-applauds-swift-reversal-of-devastating-mental-health-cuts/
2. Grossi G. Trump terminates hundreds of SAMHSA grants, threatening mental health, addiction services nationwide. AJMC. January 14, 2026. Accessed January 15, 2026. https://www.ajmc.com/view/trump-terminates-hundreds-of-samhsa-grants-threatening-mental-health-addiction-services-nationwide